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Adult Baseball Finds A League Of Its Own

April 25, 1993|By Mark Mandernach.

Anyone who saw "Field of Dreams" remembers Doc "Moonlight" Graham, the Burt Lancaster character. In the movie, Graham played one inning in the outfield for the old New York Giants and never got a chance to bat in the big leagues. He then left baseball to become a small-town doctor.

Well, there's a real-life "Moonlight" Graham, and he's alive and well and living in Deerfield. His name is Bart Zeller, and he played minor league baseball from 1963 to 1971 and spent 1970 in the big leagues with the St. Louis Cardinals. Unfortunately, he was the team's third-string catcher, and he only got to play in one game the entire season-and he never got a chance to bat in the major leagues.

"I was backing up Joe Torre and Ted Simmons behind the plate that season, and when I did get in a game I never batted," said Zeller, 51. "I got a lot of ribbing when that movie came out. My friends were calling me `Moonlight' for a little while there."

But thanks to adult baseball leagues, Zeller gets plenty of chances to swing the lumber, more than 20 years after he left professional baseball. Zeller is one of a growing number of northwest suburbanites who are leaving softball behind and playing in organized adult baseball leagues. Zeller (948-8358) is president of the Chicago North Mens Senior Baseball League. Players have to be over age 30, and the 10-team league is ready to start its seventh season. Players include former Chicago Cubs Jose Cardenal and Rich Nye.

Games are played Monday, Wednesday and Thursday nights at Recreation Park in Arlington Heights, Meadowhill Park in Northbrook and Bowen Park in Waukegan. Each team plays 21 regular season games, plus playoffs. The cost is about $200 per player per season, which includes umpires and new baseballs every game.

"The average guy is brought up playing baseball, and it's a shame to have to give it up just because you're an adult," Zeller said. "Playing baseball two or three nights a week is a great way to be a kid again. Softball is an imitation. Baseball is the real game. Every year we attract new players in their early 30s, which raises the level of talent. And an all-star team representing our league won the over-40 World Series in Phoenix in 1991."

And yes, the players wear official baseball uniforms.

Ron Frank (815-943-7748) has been busy all winter and spring helping organize the over-30 McHenry County Mens Senior Baseball League. The five-team league is ready for its 15-game inaugural season. There are two teams in Woodstock and one representing Harvard, Crystal Lake and McHenry. Games are played Sundays at 2:30 p.m. at Woodstock's Emerson Park, Johnsburg High School and Harvard High School. Fees for the season are about $150 per player.

"We have a few players who competed as high as the minor league AAA level, and several others played college baseball," said Frank, a former pitcher/outfielder for the Harvard High School Hornets. "We're all getting a little older, but I think the league will be very competitive. "

Bob Hundley, 38, from Huntley, played baseball at Irving Crown High School in Carpentersville and played minor league ball for a few years before arm trouble set in. But Hundley has declared himself 100 percent healthy after rotator cuff surgery, and he can't wait to pitch again in the McHenry County league.

"To be able to get back out on the pitching mound and toe the rubber will be a lot of fun," Hundley said. "It's a great opportunity. I can't wait to get out there and throw my fastball, change-up and curve. It's a chance to compete again."

A third local league with roots in the northwest suburbs is the National Adult Baseball Association, which attracts players from age 18 to 65. There are 18-and-over and 30-and-over leagues, according to league president Christopher Booher (394-9262) of Mt. Prospect, a pitcher/third baseman who played college baseball at Butler University.

The league currently has 26 teams, and they may have as many as 36 teams this summer, Booher said. Players hit the diamonds at William Rainey Harper College in Palatine, Illinois Benedictine College in Lisle and various suburban high school ballfields. Teams play 22 games, plus playoffs, and the cost is about $150 per player.

Booher said it's easy to figure out why adult baseball leagues are growing in popularity. "It's our national pastime," he said. "Baseball has a lot of emotion involved with it ... It's in people's blood."